GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- It's a long way from Franklin Square, N.Y. to Grand Forks, but thanks to the sharp eyes of UND associate head coach Dane Jackson, Shane Pinto made the move and now is making his mark on University of North Dakota hockey.
 
Pinto-- without a goal in his previous seven games-- scored the first two goals of the game and dominated on faceoffs, winning 10 of 12, to lead first-place North Dakota to a 4-2 National Collegiate Hockey Conference win over St. Cloud State in front of 11,223 Ralph Engelstad Arena fans.
 
"I was at the Lincoln (Neb.) Stars main camp, I was about 17,'' Pinto said. "Dane Jackson found me. I came up for a visit and I just fell in love with it. Everything about it. It's just an awesome place to be.''
 
His offense came in handy on a night where the Huskies, two-time defending Penrose Cup champs but winless in league play this season (0-3), pushed UND hard for two periods.  UND dominated the third period and used senior Cole Smith's third goal in the last two games into an empty net from just outside the blue line to clinch it with 62 seconds left.
 
The victory ran UND's home ice winning streak to 10 games, eight of the wins coming this season, as the Fighting Hawks, No. 3 in the Pairwise Rankings, improved to 9-1-2 overall and 4-0-1 in league play.
 
Pinto, centering a line with senior Westin Michaud and freshman Judd Caufield on his wings, scored on a feed from Michaud at 8:43 of the first period and from a power-play setup by Jordan Kawaguchi at 5:37 of the second period to make it 2-0.
 
Pinto's five goals for the season put him one behind Michaud, who leads with six.
 
"It's been a bit of a struggle,'' Pinto said. "It's kind of an adjustment, NCAA hockey, but just to get those goals, it relieves a little pressure. But I'm just going to play my game, I'm not going to change anything.''
 
No doubt that will be just fine with UND.
 
Pinto's power-play goal marked the fifth straight game UND has scored with a man advantage.
 
The Huskies played UND tight for two periods, picking up goals from Warroad, Minn., product Luke Jaycox and on a power play snipe from a sharp angle by Nick Poehling to chop UND's lead to 3-2 going into the third period. Collin Adams had converted a centering pass from Kawaguchi  for his fifth goal of the year just before Poehling countered for the Huskies,
 
But UND took over in the third period, outshooting the Huskies 15-4 in the final 20 and by 34-19 for the game.
 
"We played a very good team over there,'' UND coach Brad Berry said with a nod to St. Cloud State. "They came out hard, they pressured, they were an urgent team, and I thought they did a good job of playing a good road game. We found a way to win, but I think we've got to a lot sharper with our execution.''
 
Twice UND was penalized for too many men on the ice, and the Huskies converted one of those chances into Poehling's power-play goal against a team that ranks second in the nation in killing penalties.
 
Coming off taking 5 of 6 points on the road against rival Denver and a series at Minnesota looming next week, this had the makings of a letdown series for UND. "Probably half of our team tonight wasn't sharp, and the other half was,'' Berry said. "When you're playing a team like St. Cloud, everybody's got to be sharp in order to sustain a win. The NCHC is a tight league. You have to have everybody going, every night.''
 
UND, No. 1 in the nation in faceoff wins, won 32 of the 50 draws against the Huskies, paced by Pinto's outstanding success.
 
"He's a strong, heavy body centerman,'' Berry said. "The one thing about that power play, he drew the penalty (on St. Cloud's Spencer Meier) chipping the puck. The guy had to hold him up, and ironically he scored that goal. He did a lot of good things tonight to create the offensive game. But I think the biggest thing is the heaviness of playing a two-way game and winning draws. You want players like that who can do that.''
 
Which is why coach Jackson's keen eye in spotting a kid from New York in a junior league in Nebraska is paying immediate dividends for UND.
 
Game notes: Pinto, Kawaguchi and Michaud were named the three stars of the game by the media, in that order ... The goal by Adams was his team-leading third of the season credited as the game-winner, giving UND a 3-1 lead ... Sophomore goalie Adam Scheel (17 saves), picked up his ninth win of the season, tied for most in the nation ... Michaud led UND in the plus/minus rating at plus 2 ... Pinto and sophomore Jasper Weatherby led UND in shots on goal with 5 each ... David Hrenak had 30 saves for the Huskies, now 2-5-4 overall ... Pinto registered his first career multi-goal game ... UND has now scored on the power play in five straight games, going 6-of-19 in that span (.316) ... Jordan Kawaguchi tallied two more assists as now has 13 for the season (1.08 per game).